Eshoo Introduces Bill to Designate Coast Dairies Ranch as a National Monument

The land, eight miles north of the City of Santa Cruz, sits just off of the scenic Pacific Coast Highway, where the redwood-topped Santa Cruz Mountains meet the ocean. The land is home to six watersheds, several endangered species, 500 acres of redwood forest, and rolling coastal terraces that provide picturesque views of the coast.

The Coast Dairies property is named for the Coast Dairies and Land Company, a former dairy that operated on the land until the 1950s. After the dairy folded, private development of luxury homes, and a nuclear power plant were proposed. After decades of such pressures, the Coast Dairies ranch was acquired in 1998 by the Save the Redwoods League with funding from several local organizations and foundations, including the David and Lucille Packard Foundation. On April 14, 2014, the property was officially donated to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

“This land is rich with natural resources and majestic features,” Eshoo said. “Since the 1960s our region’s environmental leaders and conservationists have been successful in protecting the Coast Dairies from development in order to preserve the land for future generations. In this spirit, I introduced legislation today designating the Coast Dairies as the Santa Cruz Redwoods National Monument. The bill will give this diverse natural landscape the permanent recognition and protection it deserves, and it will ensure that future generations will be able to learn from its history and enjoy its beauty.”

Background

The legislation would expand the California Coastal National Monument, 1,100 miles of protected California coastline established by President Clinton in 2000, to include the Coast Dairies property and ensure its permanent protection. The bill would prevent commercial logging and mining on the land and would require BLM to develop a management plan in consultation with the local community that allows safe public access to the property.

National monuments can be designated by Congress under Article IV, Section 3 of the Constitution, or by Presidential Proclamation under the Antiquities Act of 1906. Since 1906, presidents and Congress have created more than 100 national monuments. For example, on April 20, 2012, President Obama designated the nearly 15,000 acre Fort Ord National Monument in Monterey County, to preserve in perpetuity the recreational, scientific, and historical qualities of the former military training ground.


http://eshoo.house.gov/issues/environment/eshoo-introduces-bill-to-designate-coast-dairies-ranch-as-a-national-monument/